In a direct taste-off against a classic bottle-aged Mosel Riesling, this wonderfully exotic and spicy wine triumphed, with judges lauding its winemaking style as something of a ‘lost art’.

For winemaker Michel Ginglinger, it’s also an ‘archetypal ambassador of the style of wines we want to express at Domaine Paul Ginglinger: a perfect balance of finesse, purity and elegance’.

Alsace has 51 grands crus but, in Ginglinger’s opinion, only ‘five or 10’ that can amplify the qualities of Gewurztraminer, which can all too easily tip over into clumsy heaviness when planted on the wrong soils.

Pfersigberg – ‘peach hill’ in German – is one of these great sites. The Ginglinger plots are on south- and east-facing slopes, where the dry, sunny conditions are tempered by cool winds and the elevated position. Poor soils give naturally low yields and concentrated, balanced wines.

The Ginglingers have a long history in Alsace – Michel is the 13th generation of the family to make wine in the hills surrounding the village of Eguisheim, near Colmar.

They also have an impressive track record in Decanter competitions – the 2011 vintage of this wine won a Regional Trophy at the DWWA in 2013, while its 2012 incarnation took an International Trophy at sister competition the Decanter Asia Wine Awards last year.

Ginglinger admits that, following his oenology studies, he could have simply returned to Alsace and started making wine. Instead, he travelled and worked a number of vintages in South Africa, Chile and Burgundy, enabling him to bring new influences to the family business – and also allowing him to meet his future wife, Loreto, in Chile’s Casablanca Valley.

Michel Ginglinger, with wife Loreto, is the 13th-generation winemaker at Domaine Paul Ginglinger

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Get news, tastings, travel and competitions straight to your inbox…

Your email address:

By submitting your details, you will also receive emails from Time Inc. UK, publisher of Decanter and other iconic brands about its goods and services, and those of its carefully selected third parties. Please tick here if you’d prefer not to hear about:

Time Inc.'s goods & services, including all the latest news, great deals and offers